The Steamie

The Steamie is a comedy-drama stage play, written by Rab C. Nesbitt actor Tony Roper. It followed the lives of a group of 1950s Glasgow women washing their clothes in a public washhouse. It was first performed at the Crawford Theatre, Glasgow in 1987.

A television version was made by Scottish Television for Hogmanay 1988. It gained immediate popularity, and has been repeated many times over the years. It starred Dorothy Paul, Eileen McCallum, Katy Murphy, Sheila Donald, Faye Milligan and Peter Mullan. Future EastEnders cast member Caroline Paterson made a cameo appearance. Haldane Duncan co-produced and directed it. A novelisation, also by Roper, was published in 2005.

The Steamie came second in an online poll for the television 'list' show STV's Top 30 Best Loved Shows, shown on Saturday 3 January 2009. The following day, a short documentary - The Steamie Story was broadcast on STV, marking the 21st anniversary of its first TV transmission. This was followed by the show itself. The Steamie is available to view in full on the STV Player.